GAINESVILLE — Florida’s baseball team reached the College World Series five times in the first 63 years of the event’s history.

Now, the Gators are going back to Omaha, Neb. for the third consecutive season and eighth overall.

UF, the nation’s top overall seed, will have several days to recover from an emotionally draining Gainesville Super Regional in which it swept North Carolina State. The Gators edged the Wolfpack 9-8 in 10 innings Sunday after taking Saturday’s opener 7-1. In all, the two games were delayed by rain three times for over five hours.

“It’s not easy to get to Omaha,” Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “This is our third consecutive year. That says a lot about our players and how hard they’ve worked.”

Florida (47-18) will open CWS play either Friday or Saturday against either two-time defending national champion South Carolina at TD Ameritrade Park. UF has never won the national championship, but brought back several key veterans from last season’s runner-up squad.

Those veterans — led by senior outfielder Preston Tucker, junior catcher Mike Zunino and junior pitcher Hudson Randall — achieved a feat never before seen at UF. The Gators had never reached the CWS in consecutive years before this run.

“Not a lot of players get to say that,” Tucker said. “I think that goes to show how good Sully (O’Sullivan) has done with recruiting players. Not only the talent, but with guys that know how to grind and are really competitive.”

Florida needed every bit of its talent and resiliency to survive N.C. State on Sunday and improve to 10-0 this season against Atlantic Coast Conference teams. UF threw seven pitchers and received at least one RBI from eight starters in the lineup. The Gators finally eliminated the Wolfpack after losing the lead three times in the game.

“It’s huge for our confidence,” said UF senior outfielder Daniel Pigott, who hit a solo home run in the 10th inning.

“We know that when some guys aren’t having their best days, we’ve got other guys that can come right back and pick them up. I think that we all kept our cool when we got in those tough situations.”